Hybrid or Road bike for commuting!!

mookie2007

Hi all,

I am an avid mountain biker for the past 7 years.

But I was thinking of starting to cycle to work about 32km round trip and feel the mountain bike wont cut the mustard in terms of comfort or speed on the road.

Essentially what is the difference between the hybrid and a road bike bar the obvious the drop bars on the road versus the horizontal bar ends on the hybrid? Specifically I was looking at the Boardman Team Carbon versus the Boardman Team Hybrid.

Bear in mind I'm happiest heading up a dirt trail or mountain trail and heading home nacored and covered in muck so looking cool (which seems to matter to alot of roadies) is not my priority.

I just want a balanced opinion as to which bike would be better for commuting the 32K. Obviously i know the road bike will be slightly faster.
Im leaning towards the hybrid from the point of view the position is the exact same practically as a mountain bike.

Cheers.

niceonetom

mookie2007 wrote: »

32K

Road bike.

mookie2007

Thanks Tom - Any particular reasoning?

07Lapierre

I can think of 32 reasons myself, but read here

niceonetom

mookie2007 wrote: »

Thanks Tom - Any particular reasoning?

Aside from the fact that hybrids are a bloody stupid solution to an almost entirely imaginary problem (ok, so I admit some bias), 32km is long enough that you will benefit from drops to ease the wrists, escape the wind, and generally go a bit faster.

Lumen

mookie2007 wrote: »

I just want a balanced opinion

Good luck with that.

Raam

I'd recommend a hybrid...













nah, I'm just kidding! Road bike all the way.

Morrisseeee

Having tried both, hybrid & road, I picked road mainly because of: 1. Speed, 2. I had used a road bike alot when I was younger, 3. Long spins, 4. Intention of doing Sportives/races, 5. lighter. But the Hybrid might suit you better, as you only have 16km one-way to do, you might not be too bothered with speed, and you might like that little bit of extra comfort, oh and the hybrid will be that little bit cheaper. Best of luck eitherway.

mookie2007

Morrisseeee wrote: »

Having tried both, hybrid & road, I picked road mainly because of: 1. Speed, 2. I had used a road bike alot when I was younger, 3. Long spins, 4. Intention of doing Sportives/races, 5. lighter. But the Hybrid might suit you better, as you only have 16km one-way to do, you might not be too bothered with speed, and you might like that little bit of extra comfort, oh and the hybrid will be that little bit cheaper. Best of luck eitherway.

Cheers Morrisseee balanced opinion .Thats really what i want comfortable commute with good speed (Compared to mountain bike on the road) On the basis they are also cheaper too the hybrid is probably more suitable given my short commute distance.

mookie2007

niceonetom wrote: »

Aside from the fact that hybrids are a bloody stupid solution to an almost entirely imaginary problem (ok, so I admit some bias), 32km is long enough that you will benefit from drops to ease the wrists, escape the wind, and generally go a bit faster.

Wind factor is a good point considering it i generally is very windy in this country. I suppose there is a huge difference on a road bike because of your position with the drop bars in terms of wind resistance. Whereas a hybrid i suppose you just get blasted.

cheers

mookie2007

Lumen wrote: »

Good luck with that.

Lumen

You're a mountain biker so you understand "fitness for purpose".

A mountain bike is like a Landrover Defender.
A road bike is like a Porsche 911.
A hybrid is like a Fiat Panda 4x4.

There is nothing in between road and off-road except the ditch. They're two completely separate environments.

People buy hybrids because they're wrong.

Jawgap

I bought a hybrid - and within months had bought a road bike.

The road bike is faster and more comfortable.

I kept the hybrid for two reasons
1. when I go for a spin with the kids (although one of them has a road bike now)

2. when I go to Tesco - it's easier to hang 4 bags of shopping from the handlebars of a hybrid.

Kintarō Hattori

I've not yet cycled a road bike (will buy one from Adverts when the finances recover) but I cycled from town to our house on a mountain bike a week or two ago. The distance was just over 32km. I found it fairly handy and wasn't tired so I would be quite happy doing the distance on a MTB. The Hybrid might be a good option for you OP.

murph226

Road bike all the way, its a no brainer!

julio_iglayzis

I realise that I am going to be shot down in flames for saying this, but are you completely averse to the idea of commuting on your mountain bike?
I do a 28k commute on a full-sus Fuel Ex6 with no issues. Obviously with the suspension locked-out.
I do realise that it's the less than comfortable option, but after spending my weekends in the hills, 28K on a relatively flat surface on mountain bike is nothing - as you're no doubt well aware.
I do like to suffer though.

mookie2007

julio_iglayzis wrote: »

I realise that I am going to be shot down in flames for saying this, but are you completely averse to the idea of commuting on your mountain bike?
I do a 28k commute on a full-sus Fuel Ex6 with no issues. Obviously with the suspension locked-out.
I do realise that it's the less than comfortable option, but after spending my weekends in the hills, 28K on a relatively flat surface on mountain bike is nothing - as you're no doubt well aware.
I do like to suffer though.

Fair point but yeah completely averse to the idea. I want to leave my suffering on the hills at the weekend and want as comfortable and as easy a ride to work as possible which by the sounds of everyone is definitely a road bike. Also my bike does be absolutley manky dirty after the weekend and alot of the time im too wrecked to clean it every weekend.

mookie2007

Lumen wrote: »

You're a mountain biker so you understand "fitness for purpose".

A mountain bike is like a Landrover Defender.
A road bike is like a Porsche 911.
A hybrid is like a Fiat Panda 4x4.

There is nothing in between road and off-road except the ditch. They're two completely separate environments.

People buy hybrids because they're wrong.

Brilliant analogy:D Absolutely shot down my hybrid idea anyway. Road bike it is so. Cheers!

kenmc

yeah road bike ftw. I bought a Giant FCR (flat barred road bike essentially) and within a couple of months had converted it to a road bike by adding drops and STI levers. Would've saved money by just buying the SCR in the first place, which is the road bike version of the FCR.

cdaly_

kenmc wrote: »

yeah road bike ftw. I bought a Giant FCR (flat barred road bike essentially) and within a couple of months had converted it to a road bike by adding drops and STI levers. Would've saved money by just buying the SCR in the first place, which is the road bike version of the FCR.

Same here. I took the intermediate step of adding aerobars to the flat bars first though.

monument

I say hybrid, but when I say that I mean very much so the road bike end of hybrids.

Rutrider

Have you considered a cyclocross bike?

Beefier than a road bike and can run bigger tyres for more comfort equivalent commute speed). More comfortable due to more upright position. Same benefits as a road bike (drop bars). May be taken off road. Can
Use road or knobbly tyres for offroad or snow. Can get really mucky. Can be raced offroad in winter cyclocross season. Do it all bike, better useage/value.

mookie2007

Never thought of that.

Yeah will look into a cyclocross. Sounds great.

Didnt know such a thing existed. Thanks.

Raam

Rutrider wrote: »

Have you considered a cyclocross bike?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

manwithaplan

Have you much stuff to carry? Road bike is the way to go but your gear needs to go somewhere other than in a backpack. A rack on a road bike makes the baby jesus cry so hopefully a saddle bag or jersey pockets will do the trick for you.

lukester

Rutrider wrote: »

Have you considered a cyclocross bike?

OP already has a mountain bike, why would they want another bike to ride offroad?

Road bike is a far better proposition for commuting, lighter, faster, better brakes, just more fun to ride on the road.

smacl

manwithaplan wrote: »

A rack on a road bike makes the baby jesus cry

And sure a basket in front of the drops would confirm to the world that you really are an individual

mookie2007

smacl wrote: »

And sure a basket in front of the drops would confirm to the world that you really are an individual

Sure i might just get those indicator flaps too to finish it off:D

Rutrider

Clearly my suggestion offends the die hard road lovers in here, sorry about that. However it's really personal choice and (lukester) if you read my post and consider what sort of rider mookie is its a logical choice. I didn't just say it's for offroad I said may be taken off road along with lots of other pros listed and makes a strong commute bike.

Raam, i thought i saw you at a cross race in Cavan once? Might have been one of the other regular officiandos though.

On my cross bike i have raced cyclocross in winter, commuted in spring and road raced (A3) in summer on it. Just change tyres (minimum) and crankset, forks and brakes (as budget permits) as appropriate. Unless you want a road bike and road is all you like then go for it.

Raam

Rutrider wrote: »

Raam, i thought i saw you at a cross race in Cavan once? Might have been one of the other regular officiandos though.

I think that was some other masochist. Maybe Lumen or Blorg.

eco2live

If it is in the city and you are starting and stopping and weaving between traffic then a Hybrid is grand. Shores and potholes and luas tracks and all that jaz is a pain on a road bike. I have a http://2009.feltracing.com/09-catalog/urban-alternative/x-city-series/09-x-city-1.aspx and it is a great bike and is still light and can take a knock.

Long stretches and decent roads then road bike all the way.

Lumen

Rutrider wrote: »

Clearly my suggestion offends the die hard road lovers in here, sorry about that. However it's really personal choice and (lukester) if you read my post and consider what sort of rider mookie is its a logical choice. I didn't just say it's for offroad I said may be taken off road along with lots of other pros listed and makes a strong commute bike.

If you're actually racing cyclocross then you have to have a cyclocross bike, and that bike makes a good winter trainer/commuter if you don't happen to have a bike for that already (although for the few races I did I found it a bit of a PITA to strip all the commuting crap off and get it set up right for racing).

If you're not racing cyclocross then you're buying a set of compromises which only pay off when it snows or gets seriously icy, and even then not if the snow is deep.

On a Wicklow spin a couple of weeks ago Raam was moaning about the performance of the cross bike he brought along (not the one he's selling, which is just too big). He was a bit slow on the descents. OTOH I've taken my cross bike up and down hills and it was absolutely fine, apart from the brake squeal.

It's just too easy to spend a load of money on a cross bike and end up with something which still needs excessive fettling to work on the road.

lukester

Rutrider wrote: »

Clearly my suggestion offends the die hard road lovers in here, sorry about that. However it's really personal choice and (lukester) if you read my post and consider what sort of rider mookie is its a logical choice. I didn't just say it's for offroad I said may be taken off road along with lots of other pros listed and makes a strong commute bike.

I'd love to try cyclocross racing, and would obviously have a cross bike in the shed for that specific purpose.

And I don't think a cyclocross bike is an illogical choice. My point was mainly based on the fact that I know a few people who bought cross bikes for their general multi-purpose appeal, and ended up getting rid of them in favour of a road bike.

If you already have a cross bike, it makes sense to keep it, fit skinny slick tyres and use it for commuting. If you don't, a road bike seems a better fit to me.

studiorat

mookie2007 wrote: »

Specifically I was looking at the Boardman Team Carbon versus the Boardman Team Hybrid.

One is twice the price of the other.

What about a touring bike? Drop bars, stronger wheels, any you can stick a pannier on it.

tomasrojo

studiorat wrote: »

One is twice the price of the other.

What about a touring bike? Drop bars, stronger wheels, any you can stick a pannier on it.

I use a touring bike for commuting and shopping. Very reliable, very strong, reasonably fast, lots of hand positions.

The downside: pricey (because they're a niche market), and cantilever brakes (which are generally used so you can fit wider tyres if you want them). The second of these is the bigger drawback, but I've got used to the somewhat poorer braking now.

mookie2007

Ok It would not be city commute. Dunboyne to Maynooth/ Kilcock so cross country on mainly good roads but definitely the odd pothole and plenty of car traffic.

To me the cyclocross or hybrid does seem like a perfect compromise between comfort and speed.

Ok i know i will get blasted by all the roadies. Anyone know roughly what the difference in speed would be in KM/HR between?
1) Road Bike
2) Cyclocross
3) Hybrid

Lumen

Drop bars with integrated shifters are more ergonomic than flats and more practical (narrower) when filtering through traffic. I don't know how much faster - it's not the biggest consideration as I'm not racing to work.

A road bike won't be any faster than a cyclocross bike (running the same tyres), it'll just be nicer. I don't know how to quantify that.

What tyre sizes do you plan to run? I do 29km round trip commute and I run anything between 23mm and 28mm. I experimented with 32mm and 35mm tyres on my cyclocross bike, but just went back to narrower ones - the wider ones felt dead and heavy, and I still felt the potholes.

So I ended up running a cyclocross bike on road tyres, which is identical to a road bike on road tyres but heavier and with worse brakes. Then I started leaving the cyclocross bike in the shed and using a road bike instead. The CX bike hasn't come back out again.

Maybe I should sell you my CX bike. It's great.

07Lapierre

mookie2007 wrote: »

Ok It would not be city commute. Dunboyne to Maynooth/ Kilcock so cross country on mainly good roads but definitely the odd pothole and plenty of car traffic.

To me the cyclocross or hybrid does seem like a perfect compromise between comfort and speed.

Ok i know i will get blasted by all the roadies. Anyone know roughly what the difference in speed would be in KM/HR between?
1) Road Bike
2) Cyclocross
3) Hybrid

The harder you push the pedals, the faster you will go regardless of the type of bike. A road bike is the best option when it comes to cycling on the road. Its that simple.

manwithaplan

You will be on open roads so you have no excuse. Get a road bike, get your arse up in the air and TT your way to work. You know it makes sense.

Funsterdelux

I used to commute 40km round trip on my Specialized Sirrus, and I often overtook folk on road bikes, so it all depends on the person whether it'll be faster or not! Might be easier.

You should also consider the quality for the road surface!

mookie2007

Ok thanks everyone - I have decided to go with a road bike.

Looked specifically at a Boardman Comp, Boardman Team and a Felt F95 today. Spec seems much better on the boardmans -Shimano 105 on the Comp, Sram Rival on the team but only Shimano Tiagra on the Felt.

Think ill go with the Boardman as gives more bang for buck equipment wise.

Peculiar thing was that in the indy they said i would be looking at a 54cm or 56cm frame depending which i found more comfortable but Halfords said i would be a small in the boardman (based on a 52 cm ideal frame measurement) My height is 5ft 8 and my inside leg measurement is 30.5".

I think the medium would be better in the Boardman but I'm confused with the two different opinions?

Hail 2 Da Thief

I have a large Boardman Team Carbon. I'm 5,11 with an inseem of 33.
I'd say your correct in saying the Medium is the right size for you. Have they got a medium in the store which you can try for size?
Don't forget the 15% discount you can get at Halfords stores if you have Axa insurance!

mookie2007

No they had no medium or small in stock in the shop.

Seem to have very little stock left.

Id be getting the bike through the cycle to work scheme so dont think they will let me away with the axa discount too.

Lumen

56 would very likely be too big for someone 5ft8.

cmanracer

Commute of 44K daily. Started on a hybrid about 3 years ago. Switched to a road bike and now back to the hybrid mostly. Why? Masochist maybe. The hybrid is heavier, a bitch in the wind, handles bad road surfaces better, easier in traffic, cheaper than the road bike to keep going in crap weather, easier to carry any extra gear.
The road bike is like cheating now. Its just too easy - so if you've any sense go for the road bike!

Rew

cmanracer wrote: »

Commute of 44K daily. Started on a hybrid about 3 years ago. Switched to a road bike and now back to the hybrid mostly. Why? Masochist maybe. The hybrid is heavier, a bitch in the wind, handles bad road surfaces better, easier in traffic, cheaper than the road bike to keep going in crap weather, easier to carry any extra gear.
The road bike is like cheating now. Its just too easy - so if you've any sense go for the road bike!

How long does that take you out of curiosity?

cdaly_

mookie2007 wrote: »

Id be getting the bike through the cycle to work scheme so dont think they will let me away with the axa discount too.

Don't tell them about the BTW, just ask for your discount, ask for an invoice, bring that to work, bring back a cheque. Cycle to Work is nothing to do with the shop so they have no right to refuse you a discount on that basis.

Rutrider

I was thinking on this on my commute(singlespeed cross bike) and ovr 16k I don't think I'd notice any significant difference in total time door to door on any bike I would use (road, cross, ss all used). I can average 29kph over 25k on my route (rolling to flat back roads). Point is my commute doesn't influence my bike choice the terrain I use does (road, fireroad, canal tow path, local park). If you only go on the road thats a nice bike for a simple commute. If you want more than commuting then weigh up your options carefully...or you will end up like lumen* with more bikes than you know what to do with.

*(sorry Lumen, example only, I don't really pretend to know if thats actually true)

cmanracer

Rew wrote: »

How long does that take you out of curiosity?

Averages about 50 mins each way - depending on the wind. Sometimes 45, sometimes 51 or 52. Record is 39 minutes on good friday last year - no traffic, big tail wind - on the road bike obviously!

blorg

A cross bike with the braze-ons for rack and mudguards can be a good all-rounder if you can only have one bike. You just have to change the tyres for road use.

If you never want to carry anything then a road bike is a bit more sprightly (and will have better braking.) But you lose the flexibility of being able to carry a load or go on very bad surfaces (the roads in Ireland are not that bad and unloaded a road bike is fine.)

Many cross bikes make good tourers and you can often get more for your money as touring a very specialist market. A big limitation can be the gearing- gearing for cross is not what you need for touring although many entry-level cross bikes will come with a road triple which is sufficient for some touring. For commuting and short trips more than fine.

Rew

cmanracer wrote: »

Averages about 50 mins each way - depending on the wind. Sometimes 45, sometimes 51 or 52. Record is 39 minutes on good friday last year - no traffic, big tail wind - on the road bike obviously!

I'm 20k each way was thinking of doing it a couple of days a week but would be a MTB and semi slicks. Walked it during the snow and it wasn't that bad :-D